TAMPA - Home sales continued to rise in March, but the pace slowed a bit, according to data released this morning from the Florida Association of Realtors.

There were 2,292 sales in March in the Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater metro area. That's up 16 percent from 1,974 during the same month last year.

Falling prices, which have been spurring the sales increases, continued to plunge. The median sales price in March was $135,800, down 24 percent from $178,300 in March 2008.

More buyers are getting off the fence and snatching up bargains, but the increase was smaller in March. In February, for instance the number of sales rose 23 percent and prices fell 27 percent, compared to the same month a year earlier.

Nationally, the news was mixed.

Home sales sunk by an unexpectedly large amount from February to March. But the median sales price rose.

Home sales fell 3 percent to an annual rate of 4.57 million last month, from a downwardly revised pace of 4.71 million units in February, the National Association of Realtors said. Sales were 7.1 percent lower than the 4.92 million-unit pace in March 2008.

The median sales price fell to $175,200, down 12.4 percent from $200,100 a year earlier. It did rise a bit, though, from $168,200 in February. While median sales prices typically rise slightly in early spring, the 4 percent monthly increase was larger than expected.

Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 249-7804.